India is set to send a cricket team to the Asian Games for the first time. Both the Men’s and Women’s teams will participate in Hangzhou later this year. The Men’s team will be a second-choice team due to a clash with the 2023 World Cup.
The Asian Games will take place in Hangzhou from October 23rd to October 8th. The Indian Express reports that the BCCI has agreed to send both a Men’s and Women’s team for the event. While the women’s team will field their first-choice squad led by Harmanpreet Kaur, the men’s team will have to assemble a second-string squad due to the clash with the 2023 World Cup.
Shikhar Dhawan, a veteran Indian batter, seems the best candidate to lead the team. Despite being dropped from the ODI squad, Dhawan’s experience could be vital in captaining a young squad.
Breakout stars from IPL 2023, such as Yashavi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, and Tilak Verma, are likely to be included. Nitish Rana is another promising choice to provide batting experience.
Injured players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Jasprit Bumrah are uncertain for the World Cup and unlikely to be available for the Asian Games.
Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Krunal Pandya, Prasidh Krishna, Deepak Hooda, and Washington Sundar are expected to be part of the team.
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